Abstract

Me and Myself

Tracing first person in documentary history in AV-collections

This research wants to explore a specific gradual change within Dutch documentary filmmaking: it wants to trace a transformation from the traditional objective documentary as fair and fact minded genre towards one with an appreciation for a more personal and subjective style. But, how to trace the emergence of a genre before it is a well constituted and recognized as such?

This proposal aims to address the challenges of doing historical research in large audiovisual collections by making use of a video annotation tool. Additionally, this research aims to use contextual sources, like the program guides available in the CoMeRDa tool, to gain more insights. It will offer a method of reconstructing the development of a genre based on analysing oral and visual cues related to a set of genre conventions: a common theme or subject matter, manner of presentation and associated emotions.